PRESS-NEWS.org - Press Release Distribution
PRESS RELEASES DISTRIBUTION

Message in a bubble: using physics to encode messages in ice

2025-06-18
(Press-News.org) Inspired by naturally occurring air bubbles in glaciers, researchers have developed a method to encode messages in ice. Publishing June 18 in the Cell Press journal Cell Reports Physical Science, the paper explains how the team encoded frozen messages in binary and Morse code by manipulating the size and distribution of bubbles in ice. The method could be used to store short messages in very cold regions such as Antarctica and the Arctic, where conventional information storage is difficult or prohibitively expensive.  

“In naturally cold regions, the use of trapped air bubbles as a means of message delivery and storage uses less energy than telecommunication and is more covert than paper documents,” says mechanical engineer and author Mengjie Song, affiliated with the Beijing Institute of Technology. “These ice messages can be preserved for a long time and the messages they carry are easy to visualize and read.” 

As water freezes, dissolved gases are squeezed out and pushed together, forming trapped pockets of air (e.g., bubbles). These bubbles are either egg-shaped or needle-shaped and can usually be found within three-dimensional chunks of ice. To investigate how these air bubbles form in ice, the team used a cold plate to freeze a two-dimensional layer of water between two transparent sheets of plastic. Then, they tested different temperatures and orientations to examine the impact of freezing rate and direction on bubble formation. 

They found that suddenly increasing the freezing rate by sharply decreasing the cold plate temperature resulted in a single bubble layer. Faster freezing rates resulted in egg-shaped bubbles, so by gradually reducing the freezing rate, they were able to produce consecutive layers containing differently shaped bubbles: the first layer contained only egg-shaped bubbles, followed by a layer with egg- and needle-shaped bubbles, followed by a layer of needle-shaped bubbles—and finally a bubbleless layer of clear ice.   

“Since bubble position and shape are determined by the freezing rate, it is possible to manually control the freezing rate to manipulate the shape and distribution of bubbles in ice,” says Song. 

Next, the researchers tested whether they could use this information to encode messages in ice. To do this, they assigned bubble sizes, shapes, and positions to distinct characters within Morse and binary codes. Then, they programmed their cold plate to control the rate and direction of freezing, resulting in a slice of ice with appropriately positioned and sized air bubbles. 

To read the frozen message, the team took a photo of the ice and converted it to gray scale. Then, they trained a computer to automatically detect the position and size of the air bubbles based on their gray value (bubbleless regions are dark gray, whereas bubbles are almost white). Based on these grayscale values, the computer decoded the frozen message into binary or Morse code and then converted the message into a readable format—in this case, as English letters and Arabic numerals. 

After comparing Morse and binary coding methods, the researchers concluded that binary coding is the better option because it is able to store messages that are around ten times longer. 

Being able to control the position and distribution of bubbles in ice could have applications beyond messaging, the researchers say. For example, since bubbles decrease ice’s mechanical strength, placing bubbles in a straight line could enable ice sheets to be neatly snapped, like the perforated line on a graham cracker. The method could also help scientists understand how bubbles form in other solid materials, such as aluminum, which cannot be imaged internally. 

“Our findings can be widely applied in many areas,” says Song. “In our daily life, we can manipulate bubbles to efficiently produce ice with different bubble contents and create beautiful ice sculptures. In industry, our research can help with metal smelting and manufacturing, as well as de-icing for aircraft and ships.” 

In the future, the team plans to investigate the impact of gas type and concentration on bubble ice characteristics and to further examine bubble formation in three-dimensional contexts.  

### 

This research was supported by funding from the National Natural Science Foundation of China, Beijing Municipal Commission of Science and Technology, Zhongguancun Science and Technology Park Management Committee, Department of Science and Technology of Hebei Province, China Postdoctoral Science Foundation, Key Laboratory of Icing and Anti/De-icing, and the Young Elite Scientist Sponsorship Program by the Beijing Association for Science and Technology. 

Cell Reports Physical Science, Shao et al., “Manipulating trapped air bubbles in ice for message storage in cold regions” www.cell.com/cell-reports-physical-science/fulltext/S2666-3864(25)00221-8

END



ELSE PRESS RELEASES FROM THIS DATE:

Before dispersing out of Africa, humans learned to thrive in diverse habitats

2025-06-18
Today, all non-Africans are known to have descended from a small group of people that ventured into Eurasia after around 50 thousand years ago. However, fossil evidence shows that there were numerous failed dispersals before this time that left no detectable traces in living people. In a paper published in Nature this week, new evidence for the first time explains why those earlier migrations didn’t succeed. A consortium of scientists led by Prof. Eleanor Scerri of the Max Planck Institute of Geoanthropology in Germany, and Prof. Andrea Manica of the University of Cambridge has found that before expanding into Eurasia 50 ...

Addictive screen use trajectories and suicidal behaviors, suicidal ideation, and mental health in US youths

2025-06-18
About The Study: This study identified distinct trajectories of addictive use of social media, mobile phones, and video games from childhood to early adolescence and found links to suicidal behaviors, suicidal ideation, and worse mental health outcomes. High or increasing addictive use trajectories were common. Addictive screen use trajectories warrant further study regarding potential use for clinical evaluation of risk and for the design and testing of interventions to improve youth mental health. Corresponding ...

Better images for humans and computers

2025-06-18
In brief: Taking better photos with less light: that is the promise of a new perovskite image sensor developed by researchers at ETH Zurich and Empa. The new sensor is more light-sensitive, reproduces colours more accurately and offers significantly higher resolution than conventional silicon sensors. In addition to digital cameras, the perovskite sensor is particularly well suited for medical analysis or for automated monitoring of the environment and agriculture. Image sensors are built into every smartphone and every ...

Racial and ethnic differences in mental health service use among adolescents

2025-06-18
About The Study: In this cross-sectional study of 23,000 adolescents, members of racial and ethnic minority groups were significantly less likely to access mental health visits or receive psychotropic medications or services in outpatient, telemental health, or school settings compared with white adolescents. These findings highlight the need to improve mental health access for adolescent members of racial and ethnic minority groups. Corresponding Author: To contact the corresponding ...

CT angiography, healthy lifestyle behaviors, and preventive therapy

2025-06-18
About The Study: Results of this cohort study reveal that compared with cardiovascular risk scoring, coronary computed tomography (CT) angiography was associated with modest improvements in healthier lifestyle behaviors, acceptance of recommended preventive therapy, and risk factor modification. Whether this strategy reduces coronary events remains to be established. Corresponding Author: To contact the corresponding author, Michael McDermott, MBChB, email michael.mcdermott@ed.ac.uk. To access the embargoed study: Visit our For The Media website at this link https://media.jamanetwork.com/ (doi:10.1001/jamacardio.2025.1763) Editor’s ...

Food insecurity in US surgical patients

2025-06-18
About The Study: The results of this study demonstrate that surgical patients are at significant risk of experiencing food insecurity. Interventions, including food insecurity screening, may improve food access and health outcomes in this cohort.  Corresponding Authors: To contact the corresponding authors, email Annabelle Jones, MD, MPH, (ajones50@bwh.harvard.edu) and Kavitha Ranganathan, MD, (kranganathan@bwh.harvard.edu). To access the embargoed study: Visit our For The Media website at this link https://media.jamanetwork.com/ (doi:10.1001/jamasurg.2025.1809) Editor’s ...

Key evidence links Harbin individual’s nearly complete skull to a Denisovan

2025-06-18
“What Denisovans looked like, despite their genetic contributions to present-day East Asians and Oceanians?” This is one of the most important questions that has arisen since the discovery of the Denisovans 15 years ago. Now, recent research by a team led by FU Qiaomiei from the Institute of Vertebrate Paleontology and Paleoanthropology of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, and JI Qiang of Hebei GEO University has helped answer this question by confirming that a nearly complete hominin skull discovered near Harbin belongs to the Denisovan lineage. It dates back to at least 146,000 years ...

Study finds addictive screen use, not total screen time, linked to youth suicide risk

2025-06-18
New research found that youth who become increasingly addicted to social media, mobile phones or video games are at greater risk of suicidal thoughts, suicide attempts and emotional or behavioral issues. The study, published June 18 in JAMA, was led by researchers at Weill Cornell Medicine, Columbia University and University of California, Berkeley. Unlike previous studies that focused on total screen time at one point in a child’s life, this study looked at how young people’s patterns of compulsive or “addictive” use changed over time. These patterns included ...

Stargazing flight: how Bogong moths use the night sky to navigate hundreds of kilometers

2025-06-18
In a world-first discovery, researchers have shown that Australia’s iconic Bogong moth uses constellations of stars and the Milky Way to navigate hundreds of kilometres across the country during its annual migration – making it the first known invertebrate to rely on a stellar compass for long-distance travel. The landmark study, published today (Thursday 19 June) in Nature, reveals how this unassuming nocturnal moth combines celestial navigation with Earth’s magnetic field to pinpoint a specific ...

National UCD Foundation to build network, create roadmap for future research in urea cycle disorders

2025-06-18
The National Urea Cycle Disorders Foundation (NUCDF), the leading patient advocacy group for people affected by urea cycle disorders (UCDs), today announced the launch of a two-year national project to establish the multistakeholder NUCDF Partner Network and develop a roadmap for future research in these rare disorders. The project is funded through the Eugene Washington PCORI Engagement Award Program, an initiative of the Patient-Centered Outcomes Research Institute (PCORI). Urea cycle disorders (UCDs) are eight related genetic disorders of protein metabolism that can lead to high ammonia resulting in coma, brain damage, ...

LAST 30 PRESS RELEASES:

Counterfeited in China: New book assesses state of industry and its future

Machine learning reveals historical seismic events in the Yellowstone caldera

First analyses of Myanmar earthquake conclude fault ruptured at supershear velocity

Curved fault slip captured on CCTV during Myanmar earthquake

Collaboration rewarded for work to further deployment of batteries in emerging economies

Heart-healthy habits also prevent cancer, Alzheimer’s, COPD, other diseases, Emory study finds

Scientists will use a $1M grant to build a support system addressing sea level rise and flooding in South Florida

New research examines how pH impacts the immune system

Inhaled agricultural dust disrupts gut health

New study reveals hidden regulatory roles of “junk” DNA

Taking the sting out of ulcerative colitis

Deep life’s survival secret: Crustal faulting generates key energy sources, study shows

Idaho National Laboratory to lead advancements in US semiconductor manufacturing

AI-assisted sorting, other new technologies could improve plastic recycling

More than just larks and owls!

Call for nominations: 2026 Dan David Prize

New tool gives anyone the ability to train a robot

Coexistence of APC and KRAS mutations in familial adenomatous polyposis and endometrial cancer: A mini-review with case-based perspective

First global-to-local study reveals stark health inequalities from COVID-19 in 2020–2021

rcssci: Simplifying complex data relationships with enhanced visual clarity

Why some ecosystems collapse suddenly—and others don’t

One-third of U.S. public schools screen students for mental health issues

GLP-1 RA use and survival among older adults with cancer and type 2 diabetes

Trends in physician exit from fee-for-service Medicare

Systematic investigation of tumor microenvironment and antitumor immunity with IOBR

Common feature between forest fires and neural networks reveals the universal framework underneath

New R package revolutionizes gene set enrichment analysis visualization for biomedical research

Benign uterine tumor resembling cancer highlights diagnostic challenges

Diagnostic performance of ATR-FTIR spectroscopy in discriminating normal breast tissue and breast tumors

Recent advancements in the treatment of age-related macular degeneration

[Press-News.org] Message in a bubble: using physics to encode messages in ice